AÑO: 5 | NÚMERO 49
THE 13th UN A R E V IS TA IM A GINA RIA
LOST CHOCOLATE LAB FROM SHOEGAZE TO SPACE ROCK IN A BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSE
FROM SHOEGAZE TO SPACE ROCK IN A BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSE
[ Interview with Damian Katzbauer from Lost Chocolate Lab por BenjamÃn York Photograps: KB Kastbauer. ]
Damian Kastbauer is the architect of this work that combines drone, ambient, shoegaze, but above all, space rock and improvisation as a compositional weapon. Damian has been part of a shoegaze band from Minneapolis called February, who have released records under the label Saint Marie Records. And now, established in Seattle, Damian bases his compositions on improvisations with effects and live images. "Lost Landscapes" is a perfect combination between the effects laboratory and the inspiration of the moment.
Hello Damian! Thank you for agreeing to answer these questions. To begin with, how and when was the idea of the Lost Chocolate Lab born as a musical project? After the band February ad run its course, I was interested in exploring open-ended song structures without the limitation of traditional verse/chorus composition. I also found that time spent refining a musical concept could actually detract from the moments of inspiration that an idea was based on. So I started moving more towards a methodology of spontaneous composition or improvisation; first with my (soon to be) wife Julie, then with interstellar percussionist JP Hauer and now standing alone as a solo improviser. Where does the name of the project come from? The name came from riding the bus between Minneapolis and St. Paul on Lake St. in my early 20’s. Julie and I spotted a flyer for a ‘Lost Chocolate Lab’ and were struck in that moment with the duality of its potential meaning. It’s a name that can challenge assumptions and channel a kind of playfulness that embodies the project in its various forms.
within me. Perceptual shifts, dynamics, and noise compounded in waves of emotion. The album has 10 songs, but beyond the time of recording, have you retouched something in the post-production? My job by-day is working with sound for video games, so I’m kicking around noises all day with a mouse and keyboard in support of interactivity. When it came to Lost Landscapes I was more interested in capturing the music as it flowed and post-production was more about removing pieces towards the clearest representation of the performance. So when it came time to produce the recordings, I limited myself to volume automation and equalization across the recorded tracks.
How did you record this album? Have you recorded more songs or are these only ten? The songs were recorded over the span of 3 days in the winter of 2017 at home here in Seattle.I recorded a single 1-2 hour improvisation on each of the first 2 days and then used the 3rd day to improvise a second pass across many of the sections that would eventually comprise Lost Landscapes. Many of the tracks on the album naturally flow beThinking about the sonority and the tween each other and in places where they effects, what effects are those that you can don’t there may have been passages that ulnever stop using in any improvisation? timately hit the cutting room floor. Delay, Reverb, and distortion. With these three I feel I’m able to bend the fabric of time The good thing about the effects is that and subvert the nature of the guitar in a way they have knobs to manipulate them live, that allows for an expression that speaks from and you play with that possibility. With
3
what effect do you like to play more? Having a pedalboard (or two) of effects allows me to dynamically control and improvise with the resulting sound in a way that allows me to tell the story unfolding from my fingertips. I have 4 expression pedals and a Crybaby wah that give me realtime control over properties of different effects and a whole network of sound processing that can be invoked with the push of a foot switch. The whole system is a mechanism of play that is outlined here: http://blog.lostchocolatelab.com/2018/09/ lost-landscapes-pedalboards-processing. html
I’m playing some live shows in Seattle this fall and hope to find additional venues and audiences to share these sounds with.
Now that the disc is already published. What plans do you have?
Thanks for the kind words and your support of this music!
And to end this interview and thanking you for the time given to answer them, is there anything you have not asked that you want to tell us? In addition to the album Lost Landscapes, I’ve also created an entire visual accompaniment to the album to be released later this month. The video for the lead single ‘Squall’ can be seen here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V6P9NRiuAVk
5
The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA